Day 5: Pincushion!

It's now Day 5 of my meds and I've officially reached Pincushion status.  Up until now I hadn't really felt that way but with 4 pokes a day, I quickly achieved this rather undesirable status.  I'm also having to be more strategic about my needle pokes.  I'm allowed just about anywhere on my belly that I can pinch up some fat and I'm no skinny-minnie so I have a decent amount of territory to work with.  However, after 5 days of pokes with a total of 15 needle pokes as of this morning, I'm starting to have to work harder to find places that I haven't poked myself.

Today was also Bonus shot day.  What's that you ask?  It's the day where I have to change out my Follistim cartridge mid-dose.  See, my Follistim comes in this neat little cartridge:

Technically it is supposed to hold 900 units of medication, but the drug company ever so helpfully tops it off with a little extra.  How much extra is not known for sure, but it's usually at least 100 units more.  So each vial generally holds about 1000 units, sometimes a tad more.  My daily dose is 225 units, twice a day.  So roughly every 2 days I hit the 900 unit vial mark.  After that, since I don't know how much is left exactly, I know that I will have to change out the vial mid-dose on the 3rd day.  It's not as complicated as you think.  See the Follistim pen is handy in that you turn a dial for your dose.  Once you've poked the needle in, you push the little plunger down and your dialed in dose goes in.  If your vial runs out mid-dose, the dial holds the number of what's left.  You pop in the new cartridge and keep on going.   The fun part?  It means a brand new needle, and a brand new needle poke.  Hence why today is Bonus shot day.  It means that today I'll get 5 needle pokes instead of my usual 4.  Oh joy!  (sarcasm at it's finest)

I'm also starting to feel that things are cooking in my ovaries.  This morning's bike ride was uncomfortable and my tummy is starting to also reflect the changes brewing within.  Bloating and pressure are the norm now, and not just in my sinuses.  The Neti pot is still my best friend and sluggishness and cravings are slowly taking over my life.  But it's nice to have some sign that all of this is working.  Only about another week to go until retrieval.....